Strikingly, a large number of serious chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, PCOS and hypertension) have been observed to cluster in patients. Such clustering can be identified in as many as one in five people on the planet and its prevalence increases with age. The problem is particularly acute in industrialized countries. Thus, chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension, represent serious causes of polypharmacy, morbidity and reduced longevity. They also pose tremendous economic burdens on individuals, families and societies. Therefore, the identification of compositions and formulations capable of preventing or treating one or a combination of these disorders is desirable.
In non-industrialized countries, infectious and parasitic diseases similarly threaten not only the lives of individuals, but the economic viability of families, communities, and societies as a whole. For example, protozoal illnesses continue to account for significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the tropical world. Malaria, endemic in to 90 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, South America, and the Caribbean, infects approximately 300-500 million people and kills 2.5 million people every year. Most of whom report lack of access or funds to purchase expensive artemisinin-based combination therapies
Another protozoal illness, Leishmaniasis, affects 12 million people in 88 countries, mainly in the in the tropics and subtropics. Worldwide, there are approximately 1.5 million new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and 500,000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis each year. In spite of the large number people suffering from this disfiguring disease and the 100% fatality rate of untreated leishmaniasis over 2 years, leishmaniasis remains on the official list of “Neglected Diseases” because current treatments are often ineffective or too costly for the affected populations.